Elf Kingdom: Game of the World Tree

Chapter 158: Chapter 153 I Already Have One

In a small garden of Chosen City, Li Mu was undertaking the daily task of looking after the little elf girls and boys.

This task was assigned to him by Alice.

Initially, the task was just to help El with her little sisters.

But with the return of Nightingale, her younger siblings also joined in.

These young elves would follow Alice and Philosier every morning to learn for a few hours, and then have two hours of exercise time.

During exercise time, it was the Chosen Ones who were responsible for watching the children.

For players, this was a leisurely duty.

Because they could easily train themselves while taking care of the kids, and also boost their NPC, especially the little ones’, favorability on the side.

Unfortunately, not everyone could accept this task.

Only players who earned the trust of the Holy Daughter would be assigned this task by her.

As one of the few players who had boosted Alice’s favorability to 80, only Li Mu and Cuckoo Bird could take on this task.

Alice was a unique purple-framed NPC in the entire server, and her task rewards were second only to the Goddess herself.

So… this was almost like getting free experience points and contribution degrees.

Actually, not only with Alice, but among all NPCs whose favorability display was now open, every one Li Mu had interacted with had their favorability towards him pushed quite high.

Even with Nightingale, who he had only met a few times, had a favorability of 40 for him.

As for Alice, Berserker, and the little elves he often took care of, many favorability levels exceeded 60.

For all believers of Eve, the favorability display towards players would be open.

And although El and Nightingale’s younger siblings were quite young, after their older siblings accepted the faith, they became believers of Eve as well, so their favorability would also show.

Of course, they were only shallow believers and couldn’t issue tasks.

However, even if they couldn’t issue tasks, the little elf kids’ favorability intrigued the players.

For most creatures, the cuteness of the young ones far surpassed that of adults by miles.

And as elves with outstanding features, their childlike appearance was unbearably adorable.

Those pure big eyes, tender skin, coupled with delicate and lovely features, were like gifts from heaven, much like little angels from a fairy tale, naturally triggering a protective desire in people…

Therefore, the little ones’ popularity among players skyrocketed, quickly surpassing Alice and becoming second only to the Goddess Eve.

Many players came to join in the fun, trying all sorts of ways to please the little ones, just to see them smile and sweetly call them brother or sister.

They would also take screenshots, record videos, and then post them on forums and video websites to show off.

Of course, there were also mischievous players who wanted to coax the little ones to say some odd things…

But those players were quickly chased away by Li Mu and Cuckoo Bird, who were taking care of the children.

Preventing the young elves from being taught strange knowledge by players was also part of their task requirements.

However, unlike those carefree and easily duped human kids, the little ones were very alert.

If one couldn’t patiently and sincerely communicate with them, it was hard to gain their friendship.

What players lacked the most was patience…

Unless there were enormous benefits involved.

But unfortunately, aside from a few lifestyle players, the little ones’ appeal to them was merely at the level of mascots.

After all, not everyone was as pretty and attractive as the Goddess, nor could they offer tasks with huge rewards.

So… many players gave up after their initial enthusiasm faded.

Of course, Li Mu wasn’t one of them.

He was the first player to earn the trust of the children.

For this, other players even gave him the nickname “Friend of NPCs.”

Actually, many players envied Li Mu’s relationship with NPCs.

But most of them didn’t have the temperament to truly interact with NPCs on an equal footing.

In other words… although boosting favorability could benefit players, it was limited.

They preferred to spend the time on fighting more monsters and doing more tasks rather than boosting favorability.

Aside from some private tasks, as long as the favorability with NPCs was above zero, it was enough to accept their tasks.

For most players, the time cost of gaining higher favorability with NPCs didn’t equal the benefits received.

Of course, there were also some introverted players who were genuinely not good at social interactions and didn’t know how to deal with NPCs.

Not to mention NPCs, these players struggled with interpersonal issues in real life…

Additionally, the elves were too straightforward.

Even with the Mother Goddess’ “quest system” gift, they were serious and earnest when issuing tasks, considering the system sacred, and insisted on being relatively fair and just, not entirely based on personal preference…

In fact, these situations were quite common on Blue Star.

Sometimes, the leader’s mere words were enough for people below to over-imagine and do a lot of work that the leader didn’t actually care about, even going as far as unnecessary extra work, sometimes with results that were poles apart…

…

Just when Li Mu’s agreed time with Alice to babysit was about to end, suddenly, a familiar, heart-wrenching howl reached him from afar:

“Brother Mu, Brother Mu! Did you see? New equipment has been released! Several new sets all at once, my gosh!”

Li Mu turned his head and saw Demacia approaching with a mournful face.

He pondered for a moment, then notified Cuckoo Bird through the friend list to take over the shift, and then he looked at Demacia and asked,

“I saw it. What’s the matter?”

Demacia shook his head, sighing,

“It’s over, it’s over. Just a while ago, I confidently assured on the official website that there wouldn’t be new equipment in the short term, and now I’ve been completely slapped in the face…”

Li Mu: …

“Who told you to play the fat one in order to test equipment?”

He shook his head.

“Who knew there would be updates so fast! Sigh… Looks like I have to grind again. I was planning on saving up contribution points to exchange for a durable defensive gold gear.”

Demacia lamented in pain.

Then he looked at Li Mu in confusion and asked,

“By the way, Brother Mu, aren’t you in a rush to grind tasks for new equipment? I feel like ever since you completed the main quest of the Half-Beast, you’ve been slacking.”

“Why don’t we explore Rivendell together? A lot of people are heading there now.”

“The internet is full of exploration videos of Rivendell. Uh… By the way, I remember you mentioned recently that you’re short on cash. Why not explore together and make a video to earn some extra money?”

He said with some anticipation.

Li Mu shook his head, responding,

“My equipment was enough for now.”

“What do you mean enough! Brother Mu, haven’t you seen the system? They just added purple epic Black Iron Middle Rank gear! The equipment ratings are several times higher than the purple bottom!”

Demacia muttered.

Then he felt puzzled,

“Besides, you don’t seem busy, you babysit for Alice every day… I heard you even went to see the new Miss Nighthawk yesterday. You’re increasing your reputation, aren’t you? But is there a need to boost it so high?”

Li Mu: …

He pondered and scratched his head, saying,

“It’s not exactly as you think, it’s still useful… I think maybe the officials haven’t fully tapped into the potential of favorability yet.”

“The theme of ‘Elf Kingdom’ is the rise of the Elf Clan, and NPCs also represent the Elf Clan! The game emphasizes immersive experience, so I believe our relationship with NPCs is significant.”

“Trust me, the officials will capitalize on favorability eventually. Boosting it early is definitely worth it later. When more players come, it might not be as easy to raise.”

Demacia listened and shook his head,

“Honestly, Brother Mu, I don’t think favorability matters much. My reputation value is still 0, but I’m still taking on tasks smoothly.”

“Besides, you should level up. Recently, you’ve been too laid-back, I’m already level 18 and surpassed you by 2 levels!”

“And… new equipment! We have new gear, shouldn’t we update?”

Demacia excitedly pointed at the system exchange interface.

“I already have the equipment.”

Li Mu shook his head.

He pulled out a rugged magic wand and showed off his evidently modified priest robe,

“I picked up the Half-Beast Priest’s equipment before, brought back his wand and priest robe, see… modified a bit, and I’m wearing them now.”

Demacia: …

“Damn, it turns out you were the one who picked up the Half-Beast BOSS’s equipment, Brother Mu!”

He widened his eyes in surprise.

Li Mu nodded and continued,

“The system identified them as white normal level Silver Lower equipment. Though they didn’t have special effects, their ratings were about the same as gold gear of the bottom rank. So until better gear appears, I don’t plan to exchange them.”

Demacia: …

“Damn, why didn’t I think of grabbing the BOSS equipment back then!”

He lamented with deep-envy on his face.

As they were talking, a system message suddenly flashed before all players’ eyes—

[Ding—]

[Announcement: “Elf Kingdom” will undergo a patch update the next day, expected to take 10 minutes. Please prepare to log off in advance.]